Sister Thea Bowman (b. December 29, 1937, Yazoo City, Mississippi - d. March 30, 1990, Canton, Mississippi) was a Roman Catholic nun, teacher, and scholar. Born as Bertha Bowman, she converted to the Roman Catholic Church and joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of La Crosse, Wisconsin. She was educated at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Catholic University of America, and Boston College, where she was a scholar of William Faulkner. She gave inspirational talks and appeared on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace. A number of schools were named in her honor,including Xavier University of Louisiana's Institution for Black Catholic Studies.